On a campaign for rural polls in north Bengal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s helicopter made an emergency landing, on Tuesday, due to poor weather. In the process, Banerjee sustained injuries.
The chopper, after taking off from Jalpaiguri, was on the way to Bagdogra. The precautionary landing was made at the Sevoke air-base, close to Siliguri.
“CM West Bengal Ms Mamta Banerjee along with three other passengers on board, made a precautionary landing at Sevoke Road Army Aviation Base at 1:35 pm due to bad weather. The Chief Minister was travelling from Kranti Helipad, Jalpaiguri to Bagdogra Airport for taking a flight to Kolkata,” a statement shared by a defence official, stated.
“The CM was escorted to the waiting area. The CM interacted with the army personnel and was served refreshments and tea. She waited there till the time the civil administration made arrangements for her further move by road. At 2.23 pm, the CM left for Bagdogra Airport by road,” it added.
On her return to Kolkata, Banerjee went to SSKM hospital, a public facility, where she was attended to by doctors, and underwent an MRI scan. Later, she was seen coming out of the hospital in a wheelchair, and then leaving in a car.
Banerjee sustained ligament injuries on her left hip joint and knee, for which treatment is on, an official representative said. She was advised to get admitted but she opted to be treated at home, he added.
Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, in a tweet, earlier mentioned that the emergency landing happened due to adverse weather conditions. Banerjee got injured, he stated, adding, “Thank God, the chief minister, fellow passengers and the driver were not in any great danger.”
In March, 2021, after getting injured in Nandigram, Banerjee was seen campaigning for her party sitting on a wheelchair for the state elections.
In March last year, Banerjee’s chartered flight on the way back to Kolkata from Varanasi after campaigning for Samajwadi Party, had faced mid-air turbulence. Banerjee had sustained a back-injury in that incident.
Sukanta Majumdar, BJP state president, wished Banerjee a rapid recovery. “But having a leg injury, repeatedly, at the time of elections, is an issue of concern. She should take precautions before elections,” he said.
When asked if he was raising a question about the timing of the injury, Majumdar added, “We don’t want to question, people are questioning why injury takes place before the election… we sincerely want her to stay fit, because we want to defeat her (government) as well.”